


One Night

by delphinus



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, but for now it's just a one shot, hopefully it's at least a little bit entertaining, seriously what, this is the cliche love conquers all kind ofstory, this might turn into a drabble series, what do I even tag this thing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 12:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4349099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delphinus/pseuds/delphinus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason gets one night a year to be sane. Just one. But he'll take what he can get, especially once the youngest Robin decides to make friends with him, the real him, and maybe a little bit more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Night

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something I wrote at three a.m. and it's been sitting on my phone for ages. I honestly forgot it was there until last night when I was cleaning out my documents. Enjoy? Reviews would be appreciated.

Once a year on All Hallows Eve, Jason's head clears. The rage and madness leftover from the Lazarus Pit drain away at sunset and for an entire night he is sane. But then dawn comes and it all rushes back to fill his mind with a painful cacophony. He wants to resent that, but he's too grateful for his one night of peace. 

Tim finds him one year, finds him sitting on a rooftop, watching the moon rise. Jason nods to him and pats the concrete beside him. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Babybird. I just wanna talk." 

Tim sits. Cautiously and several feet farther away than Jason wanted, but he sits. "What do you want, Hood?" 

Jason considers the question. "Peace. Less crime. To be sane for more than one night a year. Right now, though, I mostly just want to have a conversation." 

Tim frowns. "Sane- What?" 

Jason patiently explains. "Every year on All Hallows Eve, all that screaming in my head, the stuff that makes me want to hurt you guys, it all goes away. From sunset to sunrise I'm as sane as it's possible to be. I get one night a year to be myself, one night to be in complete control of my actions, and the rest of the time I'm a madman." 

"How do I know you're not tricking me?" Tim asks suspiciously. 

Jason shrugs, leather jacket creaking. "I suppose you don't. So you can either trust me - the me I am now, don't ever trust the guy I am the rest of the year - or you can walk away." 

Tim doesn't budge. He doesn't talk either, though, so they just sit in silence for a while until he finally speaks up. "What's your favorite color?" 

"Yellow," Jason says, amused. "Yours?" 

"Red." 

"Cool. You know, I'm actually really glad you took that suit. I don't want the thing, and it looks better on you than it ever would on me." 

Tim blushes. "Thanks. I- To be honest, there's not a lot that doesn't look good on you. Except that one Red Hood suit, the one with the really tall helmet. That thing just looked stupid." 

Jason groans at the mention of it. "That thing was horrible. Red Hood is an idiot." 

"Is that what you call the person you are most of the year?" 

"Yeah. I? Never would have picked that name. I? Hate guns as much as Bruce does. A gun is what Two-Face used to kill my dad. And while my dad may have been a worthless, no good crook, he was still my dad. Bruce was better at it, though." 

"He's not perfect, but he's a good father when he remembers to be," Tim agrees. "Tell me more about you?" 

"Sure. I won't ask you to do the same. I don't want to know what Hood would use that knowledge for. Let's see... My name is Jason Peter Todd-Wayne, I was fifteen when I died, and if you don't count the years I was dead I'm about eighteen and a half. I like classical music and literature and I like to think I'm pretty smart. I love a good debate, but I haven't had one in years. I also like martial arts and I wouldn't give up being a vigilante for the world." 

Tim interrupts. "You like literature? Have you ever read Macbeth?" 

"A few times, yeah." 

"That's my favorite book. It's a bit depressing, but it was one that my dad loved. I read it the first time to try to feel closer to him, but by the third time I read it, I was reading it for its own sake." 

"Yeah, it's a good one. I always wanted to be in a production of it. I know what you mean about wanting to be closer to your dad, though. When I was a kid I would put on his old, worn out leather jacket just to feel like he was still around somewhere. I grew out of it when I became Robin. Leather Jackets are more Hood's thing than mine, these days." 

"I used to have a silk scarf soaked in my mom's perfume. I lost it a while back." Another stretch of silence before Tim says, "I wish you could be like this all year. I like this Jason." 

"I wish I could too, Babybird. Who knows, maybe you'll find a way to let me. If anyone can do it, you can." 

"You really think so?" 

"I really do. You're the smartest person I've ever met." 

Tim blushes again and mumbles a thank you. 

Jason shrugs. "It's the truth." He glances back up at the sky. "You'd better get going. B and 'Wing will wonder what you're up to." 

Tim stands up, but hesitates before he goes. "Can we do this again next year?" 

"Sure. Now shoo, before you get in trouble." 

They do talk again the next year. And the next, and the next. Each year the end of their conversation edges closer to dawn. Tim gets to know an entirely different Jason from the one he sees the rest of the year and he maybe starts to fall a little bit in love. Jason, the real Jason, is kind and smart and funny. Without even noticing it, Tim stops referring to Red Hood as Jason and starts correcting Bruce and Dick and even Damian when they get it wrong where he can hear them. He does look for a way to help Jason stay sane, but he doesn't find one. 

Jason really truly cares about Tim. He enjoys talking to the younger man, as well as listening to him. If he gets jealous when Tim talks about his former girlfriend and current best friend, Stephanie Brown, he shoves it down and does his best to lock both it and the other feelings tied to it tightly away. It doesn't really work, but he still tries. 

It's their fifth year of having these conversations when they lose track of time. 

They're in Jason's apartment, debating the merits of hard copy vs digital when they notice the first rays of dawn peeking in through the open window. Jason panics. 

"You have to get out," he tells Tim. "Hood will kill you." 

"I can handle Hood. I'm not leaving you, Jason." 

"I'm about to literally lose my mind, Tim. It's not pretty and you won't like it. Just go." 

"I said no." 

Jason keeps glancing nervously at the window. "Tim, go!" 

Tim hesitates, then grabs the back of Jason's head and pulls him in to kiss him soundly. "You idiot. I love you. I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone." 

"You- What?" 

"I love you," Tim repeats, slowly and clearly. "You think I spend hours every day searching for a way to help you hold on to your sanity just because I'm bored? If that were the case, there are other things I could be doing with my time. More productive things, since I'm really not getting anywhere. But that's not the case." 

"I- You-" Jason gives up on words and grabs Tim for another kiss. He lets go with a smile. "I love you too." 

The sun comes fully up over the horizon and they both wait for what they know has to happen...but it doesn't. It doesn't happen, and it keeps not happening all day. And the next day as well. At the end of day three, it sinks in that it's not going to happen. 

"I'm free," Jason whispers, awed. 

Tim hugs him tightly. "You're free." 

"Do you think B and Wing would take me back if I told them what was wrong with me?" 

"If you can prove to them that you really are sane again, I'd be willing to bet on it." 

Which is how Tim ends up driving Jason to the Cave. They step out of Tim's car and everything and everyone in the Cave simply stops. Bruce and Damian glare suspiciously, but Dick takes in Jason's appearance with a growing look of hope. 

Jason is dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, tennis shoes, and a pastel yellow knit hoodie that he's neglected to zip up. His only weapon is a belt knife he carries openly in a sheath at his hip. He looks nervous and positively nonthreatening. Especially when compared to what Dick is used to seeing of him. 

Then Tim opens his mouth and starts to explain. 

It takes three hours to get Bruce to accept the truth, but they eventually manage it. While Damian continues to glare, it's no longer a suspicious look. It helps that Jason is everything Red Hood never was: caring, sensitive, honorable, and good. 

There's a few seconds of awkward silence, then Jason asks Bruce, "So can I stay? If you don't want me working here, I can go find another city-" 

"Jason," Bruce interrupts. "Welcome home."


End file.
